Impact of maize particle size on egg production and egg quality of White Leghorns in early stage of production

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of the maize particle size on the performance of layers. Five maize-soybean based diets were formulated with maize particle size of 4.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10.0 and 12.0 mm sieve size with five treatments (T1: 4.0 mm mash diet; T2: 6.0 mm mash diet; T3: 8.0 mm mash diet; T4: 10.0 mm mash diet; T5: 12.0 mm mash diet) fed from 20 to 28 weeks of age. Each treatment was replicated three times, with 10 birds in each replicate. The results showed no significant difference in average daily feed intake, live weight, hen day egg production percentage, egg mass and egg indices except for haugh unit, which was highest for the 4 mm screen size and lowest for the 12 mm screen size in layers from 20 to 28 weeks of age. FCR (g/g egg mass) was highest for T3 as compared to the average of other treatments not affected by either of the feeds. In conclusion, the size of the screen used to mill the grain had no impact on hen production within the range of the study. Furthermore, the decision to grind grains more coarsely than is already customary would be favourable for the environment and the economy because it would reduce the amount of energy, labour, and time utilised in feed mills.